e-zoo

man arrested on narcotics charges related to 2013 Electric Zoo death

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You may remember that there were two drug-related deaths at last year’s Electric Zoo Festival in New York, causing the final day to be canceled. Jeffrey Russ was one of the fatalities and now Federal prosecutors in Mahattan have brought charges agains the person they believe sold him the drugs. From the NY Times:

Patrick Morgan, who at 23 is the same age that Mr. Russ was when he died, was arrested on Wednesday in Buffalo on charges of narcotics distribution and narcotics conspiracy, after an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration that zeroed in on the group of friends involved in the alleged drug deal as recounted in the criminal complaint against Mr. Morgan. Both charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years.

One of the friends, who was not identified in the complaint, cooperated with the D.E.A. special agent leading the investigation, Louis Schmidt. In March, the friend met with Mr. Morgan and discussed the drugs that Mr. Morgan allegedly sold the three, according to the complaint. After the meeting, the two exchanged text messages.

“Hey it was great to see you last week,” the friend who was working with the authorities texted Mr. Morgan, the complaint states. “Glad we got to talk about Jeff a little it was bugging me. Just know that I no longer blame us for giving the molly to him because it was him that made the mistake of taking too much.”

Morgan is currently out on a $100,000 signature bond.

The Electric Zoo returns to Randall’s Island over Labor Day Weekend with dramatically heightened drug security.